Most of our neighbors cleared the snow off of their sidewalks so I could safely walk the dogs today. No walk from me yesterday - so me string of 111 straight days was broken. But my DH walked them, so the dogs string of walking days continues! I cleared the sidewalks and drive yesterday (which made my day yesterday!)

returning a bunch of crap that I bought cheaply so I was of the mindset of let's buy 2! Standing in line and spending 1/2 a day on this has cured my online deal seeking problem. I felt so good with that stuff gone!

My jeans are too loose around my waist but I'm waiting until the new year to buy more. My belts are too small or too thick so I told my mom if she hadn't got a Christmas gift for me yet I could use a belt. She asked why don't I make one. I have all the leather and tools and even some buckles. I'd asked her a few weeks ago if she needs anything I could make with leather, but I have no idea why it hadn't occurred to me that I should make a belt for myself! Now I'm excited to be designing something nice in my head that I'll make as soon as I get a chance. :D

My dear wife got a part in a play at the local playhouse. First time she's done this. She's excited. Got the part she wanted the most.

My work with teenage son using Khan Academy (HS math) is starting to pay off I think.

My Irish Setter girl is snuggled up to me here on the couch. So warm and content.

We paid off a loan that has been haunting us for three years (killing our debt per MMM). Now we'll apply that to the next item (small) and then finish off the student loan.

I am part of a small support team at work. Senior employees contribute to a small collection for us since we make it possible for them to get their work done. All informal. I opted out b/c my wife and I have had a good year (we bth advanced in our careers). More money for the rest of my small support team to divide among themselves, I'm the senior member. I'm only walking away from ~$250 but it's made a big impression on the rest of my team. Smiles all around. Even my boss was impressed. Who knew I could "buy" so many "Brownie Points". Seems like the logical choice to me.

The weather has been heavy, and today it dried up a little, In a quarter mile stretch of road, I saw three red tailed hawks sitting on fenceposts looking for lunch in a field, and then a group of egrets trailing the receding flood waters and doing the same.

I saw a dog out for a walk, wearing a diaper. Admittedly this is in Asia, where I see dogs in strollers or wearing socks. But still. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Apparently it's often recommended to use a diaper when a dog is in heat so you don't have to run around all over the house cleaning up little drops of blood. Less of an issue outside possibly, but maybe they were using a diaper because of bleeding.

Knowing that in 1.5 weeks we'll be leaving for Cancun and will be relaxing on the beech sipping a gooey blender drink on Christmas day. Last year at this time we were moving (downsizing) and I spent Christmas break running new gas lines and installing a new hot water heater with a 103 degree temperature. And the family was laid up on the couch sick as well.

Fast forward a year and along with being excited about vacation, thanks to downsizing our house and our lifestyle, we doubled last years savings, from 25K last year to 50K this year. It actually makes my day everyday.

I called my grandma to wish her a happy birthday. She was really happy of hearing from me, and told me she was waiting for my call, because she knows I remember ever year, even if I live on a different continent. She has 14 grandchildren, and the fact that she was waiting for my call made me feel special :-)

I called my grandma to wish her a happy birthday. She was really happy of hearing from me, and told me she was waiting for my call, because she knows I remember ever year, even if I live on a different continent. She has 14 grandchildren, and the fact that she was waiting for my call made me feel special :-)

And how many of her grandchildren call. Your call makes her feel special! Funny how that works ;)

I called my grandma to wish her a happy birthday. She was really happy of hearing from me, and told me she was waiting for my call, because she knows I remember ever year, even if I live on a different continent. She has 14 grandchildren, and the fact that she was waiting for my call made me feel special :-)

And how many of her grandchildren call. Your call makes her feel special! Funny how that works ;)

I'm probably the only one that calls her, then again, all the other ones live in the same parish, so they see each other every Sunday...

I called my grandma to wish her a happy birthday. She was really happy of hearing from me, and told me she was waiting for my call, because she knows I remember ever year, even if I live on a different continent. She has 14 grandchildren, and the fact that she was waiting for my call made me feel special :-)

After the train wreck of the "Prequels"...this makes me happy. Childhood redeemed.

I was 5 when the original released....for better or for worse, the OT was a major influence on me. Thats why the Prequel Trilogy hurt so much.

I was born after the OT was released, but grew up with it as the major "story" we enjoyed in my childhood. I watched the VHS tapes over and over again with my older siblings... And I still have all my Star Wars action figures, lego etc that I would play with for hours as a kid, ready to pass down to the next generation.

So yeah, it's been making my WEEK that the Force Awakens is apparently very, very good and much more like the OT than the PT. Can't wait to see it for myself :D

After the train wreck of the "Prequels"...this makes me happy. Childhood redeemed.

I was 5 when the original released....for better or for worse, the OT was a major influence on me. Thats why the Prequel Trilogy hurt so much.

I was born after the OT was released, but grew up with it as the major "story" we enjoyed in my childhood. I watched the VHS tapes over and over again with my older siblings... And I still have all my Star Wars action figures, lego etc that I would play with for hours as a kid, ready to pass down to the next generation.

So yeah, it's been making my WEEK that the Force Awakens is apparently very, very good and much more like the OT than the PT. Can't wait to see it for myself :D

Boyfriend comes home from 4 day business trip in a few minutes, and since I promised to pick him up I was also able to drop off our friends on their way out of town, saving them the frustration of LA public transit.

Also, finally scheduled a phone interview I was expecting to hear about. (For a job after PhD, hopefully by end of summer!) :)

Took the car in to Les Schwab for issues beyond my knowledge. While they had the car, they backed up into another car (just a bumper hit). They had us get an assessment for how much it would cost to repair it. The purely cosmetic issue would cost $500 to fix, so Les Schwab cut us a check and since I don't care about what my bumper looks like, we actually made money on that trip.

Had dinner with my wife and an old friend and then back to friend's place in the country for another beer and more conversation. Best time ever with friend.

Our boys are happily playing Minecraft together right now (Linux version) despite the age differences. All I can hear is happy chatter about what they are cooperating on building. That game has given and given and given. Best purchase ever for our boys.

There is a restaurant and beach I've been wanting to go to for months. DW didn't want to go. (She's more mustachian than I am.). DW was out of town this weekend, so I took our three little ones there without her. What made my day? Having a great lunch and a fun time with the three most fun and best behaved young children I have ever seen in a restaurant (this is definitely not normal for my kids, and I swear I didn't drug them...), and getting a verbal high five from a guy on the way out as he smiled and said, "You did it, dad!"

Yesterday while explaining to my son how a crosswalk works and what the signals mean my wife said:

"No James, you have to wait until the white man says you can cross! Obey the white man!"

It really cracked me up . . .

Every.single.time I use a crosswalk, I wonder about this. Why hasn't the ACLU rallied around this cause?

I believe the silhouette should be green for "Walk" and red for "Don't Walk". Alternatively, the figure could be green all the time and have the red circle/slash over it to signify "Don't Walk". Hey, there are a lot of FIRE engineers around here. Why doesn't one of you create this and make a killing (that you don't need, natch) on it?

"Congratulations! I wanted to know more of your story and found this gem. Looks like you pulled the trigger well ahead of schedule, too. Care to share more details?"So...divorced Mom and stuck in a nasty job. Spending money to cope. And just not THINKING! Found MMM just last March and he spoke to me on many levels.The transformation started. I started selling stuff. My Clown Car was actually really hard to let go of. I would read the archives and think, "Yeah, this is ridiculous! " Then I would drive it picturing the top down soon and having fun. I was really tied up in it. Back and forth I went for a couple months. Meanwhile I concentrated on low hanging fruit. Kijiji became my best friend. I optimized all my bills, shaving money off phone, utilities and insurance. Simply stopped spending money - no more eating out, cut my own hair, etc. Stopped the leakiness of my life. Recorded every penny. Got on my bike! Put the green soldiers to work (rainbow soldiers here in Canada ☺). Read up on investing, ERE and JLCollins. More facepunching. Renovated my house into two apartments. Started making money on a side hustle which I love. It all came together and then snowballed. Once I didn't need my real-job-salary for 6 months, I pulled the plug. NOT a conservative move but fueled with a desire for freedom! I feel like great things are possible in my life now. So far, so good! LOL - it's been 2 awesome days!

"No James, you have to wait until the white man says you can cross! Obey the white man!"

My autistic son went through a phase where he identified every sign he saw. Outside Montreal's Snowdon metro station once, he sang out, "A little white man!" and the short Caucasian fella at the crosswalk scurried off pretty fast.